Azira's Bookshop

Your local angel✨ ║ she/they/ae/wing/cloud ║ Aroace ║ Nonbinary ║ Autistic ║ Czech, I speak English, mostly ║ Really into Good Omens, snakes, corvids, and angels

[animunitee]

Don't we all just wanna see Crowl E and AzEVAphale holding hands at the end?

And M-Oriel for good measure, can't leave them out ~

Good Omens Study Club movie poster art!

At first I thought making this crossover would be very hard, but turns out it was super fun! Especially putting in all the easter eggs.

[jorvikwildhorse]

Wildlife in the Hollow Woods

[hg-aneh]

How many more years could they possibly spend avoiding to talk about their feelings, I wonder

[hg-aneh]

NOT LIKE THAT

[glassiskies]

this paragraph of information I already knew is sending me into cardiac arrest

from this variety article

[goodomensonprime]

We are ineffably elated to confirm that Good Omens will return for a third season! This calls for a round of hot chocolate and sweet treats!

@neil-gaiman

[hg-aneh]

adventures on stray deer keeping

extra:

[aaadrrt]

[sightkeeper]

Chosen Faces 121

This comic is a Good Omens AU wherein Aziraphale is an eldritch horror pretending to be an angel. Updates early on Patreon.

First - Previous - Next Masterpost - Patreon - Ko-F

[youryurigoddess]

A. Z. Fell & Co. bookshop and its statues

To start off, you have to be warned that the former set was almost completely destroyed in the S1 bookshop fire and whatever wasn’t important enough to be salvaged before the shooting had to be replaced afterwards. Which means that a few memorable and already identified pieces aren’t there anymore, for better or worse.

This is going to be another long analysis, and certainly not a full one — I’ll describe only the big picture and the most important props. A continuation focusing on the decorations from the less prominent parts of the bookshop will follow.

Right at the entrance we can see twin tables with the Marly Horses by Guillaume Coustou the Elder. The sculptures showing two rearing horses with their groom were originally commissioned by Louis XV of France for the entrance to château de Marly, a royal residence near Versailles.

In S2 Crowley is shown consistently using one of the horses, partially out of convenience, partially in line with a returning throughout the season dark horse theme. Ironically, the symbolic harnessing of a wild animal mirrors the supposed domestication of the demon by his angel, as seen in the transformation of the statue to the right from the entrance into an altar of his submission.

After all, there’s nothing more vulnerable to Crowley than losing the usual protection of his shades, and using a horse sculpture as a stand for his sunglasses speaks volumes about his natural aptitude towards uncertain and liminal states. He thrives in stress situations, dangles his feet while hopping onto a curb, and assumes the form of a non-Euclidean fluid when asked to sit down in a chair. Stability isn’t exactly what he’s most comfortable with. So what for Aziraphale signifies the power over his (theirs?) own domain and ultimate safe space, for Crowley means a challenge.

It makes sense that this particular spot near the exit is where the demon feels most secure in the bookshop, his favorite place in the world. That’s where he stood after crossing its threshold in 1941 too.

The statue in the middle, right on top of the central bookstand, was replaced after the S1 fire. It’s still clearly a Cupid, but in a different pose and without his weapons — instead of shooting an arrow, now he’s holding his left hand over his head, pointing up towards Heaven or God. Quite a change. This is the most similar copy made after Ernest Rancoulet. The butterfly-like wings (similar to the ones Rancoulet used in his La Nuit Tout Repose, At Night Everything Rests) on the copy in the bookshop have visible screws, so they were probably added either by the previous owner or the Good Omens art department.

What’s especially important from the analytic point of view is that similarly to S1, the Cupid in question still appears in the frame facing Crowley, but not targeting him anymore, like it used to, but rather mirroring. The most memorable example appears during the Final Fifteen™ when the demon points up with left hand to highlight his “No nightingales” line.

This one will be fun! Everyone, meet George Maxim’s bronze allegory of Music in her full glory. Angels like music in general, right? And Aziraphale is a known audiophile, which was asserted in the very first episode of the new season. But there’s another link to music in his angelic roots. A rather apocalyptic one — the Archangel Raphael is believed to blow the trumpet from a holy rock in Jerusalem to announce the Second Coming (the Day of Resurrection), and Israfil, its Islamic counterpart, Qiyamah (the Day of Judgment).

Staying in the very same context, let’s read the ballad Israfel by Edgar Allen Poe, which was obviously inspired by the titular Archangel.

Nothing on Earth lasts forever — but that’s exactly the reason why we should use it for inspiration, savor this momentary bliss, and hold it in our hearts. The ballad shares the same sentiment about all creation being temporary and only the passions of angels (i.e., Aziraphale’s and Crowley’s feelings) staying eternally unchanging as Aziraphale’s “Nothing lasts forever”. His line was intended as an affirmation of his feelings, similar to “You go too fast for me, Crowley”.

And just like the Cupid is mirroring Crowley in the “No nightingales” line, Music is targeting Aziraphale with her harf in the following frame.

On the counter there’s a smaller bronze statue, which original unfortunately remains unidentified, but I was able to track some similar designs. A woman coming back from the harvest with crops — either a representation of Autumn or the Greek goddess Demeter bringing a blessing of a plentiful harvest. In the Bible, the harvest is a metaphor for both spiritual fruitfulness and judgment. Our productivity in God’s kingdom is supposedly tied to our faith and obedience. And the most popular verses repeat an even older saying, how one reaps what they sow:

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-8)

And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” (Revelation 14:15)

The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. (Jeremiah 8:20)

If you read The summer that was never supposed to end meta, you’ll interpret the figure itself as a rather ominous sign. Now let’s add to it positioning right next to the gigantic Victorian cash register one cannot possibly overlook and the recurring theme of payment. And the fact that it conveniently disappears at some point in The Ball (S02E05) episode, never to be seen again. Is the payment reminder not needed anymore, because its day just came?

For some reason ever since S1 this one was often interpreted as a bust of Alexander the Great by the fandom. The proper name is the Head of a Victorious Athlete, also known as Benevento Head. As this suggests, the originally bronze sculpture represents a victorious athlete wearing an olive crown and was found near Benevento in Italy, in the remnants of the ancient town Herculaneum, wiped off from the face of the earth together with Pompeii in a tragic volcanic eruption (which was conveniently used later on as a more modern example of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah). It’s an obviously Roman copy of a Greek sculpture and dates back to 50 AD, less than a decade after Aziraphale and Crowley met in Rome in 41 AD— who knows, maybe they were still around at the time? This would make an interesting connection to the statue Crowley brought back to his apartment in 1941.

And no, in the HD quality and especially en face it doesn’t appear similar to Crowley. In fact, there seems to be a very good reason why most photographers choose another, more flattering angle for this particular artwork. But aesthetics aside, the white bust seems more like a mirror for Aziraphale and his self-constructed (and self-imposed) idealized image, based on a specific set of virtues. The presented athlete is victorious because he’s the epitome of the Platonic Triad of higher Forms: Truth, Beauty, and Excellence, understood in the wider context of the Greek Aretē.

To highlight this point, in S1 the head was literally used as a designated display place of the medal Aziraphale got as a commendation for his 6000 years on Earth in the 1800 cut scene. As a free agent not affiliated with Heaven in S2 he doesn’t hang it there anymore, but the medal is still in the bookshop, visible on his desk. You can see it in detail and read the description of its provenance in the last bookshop meta.

Daedalus and Icarus are a very popular motif in the history of art, but certainly not in this overtly masculine, military style. Icarus was too ambitious for his own good and ignored explicit instructions, which constitutes both the sin of pride and that of disobedience to one's parents (or one’s Creator?).

Interestingly, there’s also a version of the myth in which Icarus fashioned himself greater than Helios, the Sun himself, and the god himself punished him for it with the fall — which resonates very strongly with my vision of Crowley both in relation to his Fall and potential S3 development.

But back to Aziraphale. If the medal in question was given to him as a commendation he from the Supreme Archangel himself, it also serves as a warning for him to not get too arrogant or comfortable with his accomplishment (i.e., life on Earth) or it might lead to his fall (or, in this case, Fall).

Foreshadowing much?

[robin-roi]

Aziracrovember week 1: gift/ cozy/ south downs

Combined them all hehehe

[aaadrrt]

halloween costumes 🐈‍⬛🎃🧙‍♀️

[sightkeeper]

Chosen Faces 120

This comic is a Good Omens AU wherein Aziraphale is an eldritch horror pretending to be an angel. Updates early on Patreon.

First - Previous - Next Masterpost - Patreon - Ko-Fi

[siryyeet]

Aromantic and Aroace flag, colour picked from 'foxlore' - the crane wives

[siryyeet]

Here's an Asexual flag, colour picked from 'Coyote Stories' - The Crane Wives btw. As a treat.

[bigb-enthusiast]

Literaloy just checked reblogs to aee if people went insane and i just saw this and OH MY GOD RAAAGHDHCHWHCJ RAAAAAHHH RAAAAAAAAHHHH RAAAAAAAAAGGGG

Op i am tearing you apart and cooking you in a hello kitty cook set /vpos /aff I LOVE THE CRANE WIVES… i might do this…with like uhh safe ship, harbored and the fool in her wedding gowns….ougghhh….oouugghhhhh

[kartatchk]

Aziraphale's bookshop colors 💛❤

[kartatchk]

Today I learned that there is a yellow color called "Va va voom" ✨💛✨🌟☀🤩😂

"Rich gold is beautiful in a bedroom, kitchen or foyer. Also use this in a dining room for an aristocratic appeal. Pair with white trim."

[kartatchk]

It was on purpose!!! 💛⭐💛🌟💛✨💛☀💛🔥💛🌟💛✨💛

[bleucalire]

Absolutely no context for this, idk they’re probably going through their 346th Armageddon. But fear not, for bamf Aziraphale seems to have arrived 👀✨☄️

[abbybubbls]

💙☔ Aziraphale gives a miraculous umbrella to a kitty, I give a DTIYS piece to YOU! ☔💙

PLEASE post and tag me once you're done redrawing, I'd love to see!! No deadlines, no worries!

[willgrahamscock]

Thinking about how during the confession, Crowley was trying so hard to hold back his tears. He looks up, to the side multiple times to prevent any single tear from falling. He's choking on his words, breaking apart because he knows it's too late by this point. But he's pushing through it, just to tell Aziraphale he wants to spend the rest of his life with him, because maybe it'll change his mind.

You can see the moment he can't hold it back anymore. The moment he realizes they're not on their own side because Aziraphale chose heaven, and has to get out of there, has to put up his defenses.

It's so very human.